Oliver Chow

About Oliver Chow

Oliver Chow is Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Light & Wonder (L&W), appointed on December 13, 2023, after serving as Interim CFO since August 2023; he joined L&W in October 2022 as SVP Corporate Finance. He is 44 years old, holds a BS in Business Administration (University at Albany, SUNY) and an Executive MBA from UCLA Anderson, with prior finance leadership roles at Aristocrat, Universal Pictures, Deluxe Entertainment Services, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Company performance metrics used in executive pay include consolidated AEBITDA and revenue under the 2024 LWICP (weighted 50%/50%), which paid at ~98.4% of target; the 2022–2024 performance RSUs paid at 91.3% of AEBITDA target and 100% of TSR target (71st percentile vs S&P 400), and Chow has stated L&W delivered YoY net income and consolidated AEBITDA growth with strong cash flow and accelerated buybacks (51% of the expanded program completed).

Past Roles

External Roles

Fixed Compensation

Performance Compensation

Equity Ownership & Alignment

• Stock ownership guidelines: CFO required to hold stock equal to 2× annual base salary; compliance is measured by shares/units counting direct/indirect holdings and time-vesting RSUs; options and performance RSUs do not count.
• Hedging and pledging prohibited for employees/officers/directors (no options, collars, short sales; no margin accounts or pledging).

Employment Terms

• Severance (Qualifying Termination = without cause/for good reason): 12 months base salary, pro rata bonus for year of termination, and up to 12 months COBRA; Chow is not covered by L&W’s CIC Plan; equity awards accelerate upon change in control under the 2003 Plan. Non-compete covenants apply for 12 months post-termination. Clawback policies apply to incentive compensation. No excise tax gross-ups; “best net” cutback applies if 280G/4999 excise tax would otherwise apply.

Additional terms and governance:

• CIC Plan: Double-trigger plan covers only certain executives (Wilson and Sottile); Chow is not a participant. Equity awards generally accelerate at change in control under the 2003 Plan.
• Clawback: NASDAQ-compliant clawback; additional discretionary clawback for fraud/gross misconduct including cancellation/recoupment and gains from sales/exercises.
• No hedging/pledging policy for all employees/directors.
• Related party transactions: None for Chow requiring disclosure (noted upon Interim CFO appointment).

Investment Implications

• Pay-for-performance alignment: Chow’s variable pay is tightly linked to consolidated revenue and AEBITDA (50%/50% weighting) with rigorous payout curves (no payout <85% of target; 200% at 130% achievement), and equity is 50% performance-conditioned (TSR, AEBITDA), indicating strong alignment with shareholders. 2024 paid ~98.4% of target; 2022–2024 TSR at 71st percentile paid at 100%, AEBITDA at 91.3% paid below target.
• Retention risk moderate: Employment terms provide only 1× salary plus pro rata bonus and 12 months COBRA upon a Qualifying Termination; Chow is excluded from the richer CIC Plan (double trigger), though equity accelerates under the 2003 Plan on change in control. This reduces severance inflation and limits pay-for-failure risk.
• Insider selling pressure: Scheduled time-vesting installments (starting Mar 20, 2025) and performance RSUs vesting in 2027 can create periodic supply; Chow realized 5,754 shares vesting valued at ~$571k in 2024. Hedging/pledging prohibitions mitigate adverse alignment behaviors.
• Ownership alignment: CFO guideline is 2× salary; Chow is in compliance (14,361 vs requirement 12,711 shares/units). Beneficial ownership reported at 5,232 shares (<1%).
• Execution signals: CFO commentary emphasizes disciplined capital allocation and buyback acceleration (51% of expanded program completed), suggesting continued shareholder returns and balance sheet flexibility.